Roughly 200 teams have already turned in their gear for the season, but there is still lots of exciting football left to play. For many teams, the past 10 games have been a buildup to the playoffs and the chance to prove their worth on the national stage.

D3football.com’s coverage will be going strong over the next few weeks, and that began Thursday with our 32-team capsules, one of the cornerstones of our postseason reporting. They offer insight on how to tell if a team is playing well or poorly, along with how far into the bracket we think each team can make it. We also took a long-view look at who might surprise and disappoint by the time the first three rounds are in the books.

But you’re still hungry for more, right?

From now until the second weekend in December, Pat Coleman, Keith McMillan and Ryan Tipps will not only pick the winners of games in Triple Take, but we’ll also project the scores. It’s a transparent test of our perceptions week in and week out. (And we each make our picks independently.)

These postseason Triple Take predictions are not intended to be lines on the games, but rather a broad test of expectations vs. outcome.
How does this work?

• First, look at the scoring margin. If they are predicted to be a close game, we think the teams are evenly matched.
• Second, look at the winners. If it’s a three-man sweep, we think there’s a clear favorite. If it’s a split decision, it’s definitely a toss-up.
• Third, look at the total points. If most of us predict a lot of points, you can expect a shootout. Weather permitting, of course.

It’s not a competition between the three of us, so we have no stake in being right — we’d rather see you show off your smarts in the bracket challenge. Ryan, Keith and Pat aren’t keeping score, but usually the first weekend, each picks between 12 and 14 correct winners, often in the ballpark of the actual final. That means these Triple Take picks set the expectation, but we know at least a few teams will surprise us in the opening round. Will it be yours?

If you don’t feel your team is getting enough love, jump in and explain to us in the comments section below why they’re going to win. And if you’re feeling prescient, leave your final score guesses for any or all games below, and check back in afterward to see how you did. Be sure to follow the updates across the country on Twitter, using the hashtag #d3fb.

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26 thoughts on “Triple Take: We predict the scores”

I can’t argue with too much here. One thing I disagree with is Keith’s prediction on the Hobart/W&L Score. I feel he’s either A) Giving too much credit to W&L or more likely B) He’s far too down on Hobart.

And this is saying something coming from me, actually, because I actually have Hobart losing in the second round. Either way, can’t way to see how it plays out.

Yeah. I can’t speak for Keith but I did consider the thought that W&L has a pretty prolific offense. I just think that Hobart’s defense is pretty strong and W&L is of similar strength to the runners-up in the Liberty League, so I envisioned a similar result.

I looked over all three of your selections and i agree with keith the most on almost all of the picks.. I still feel like Framingham State is going to give Cortland State everything and more.. I have St. Thomas winning the championship over Mount Union!! We will just have to wait and see

@Ron: I wasn’t aware of the quarterback issue before I made my pick (learned of it this morning). I’m not changing my pick, but I also wouldn’t be surprised if that means Salisbury wraps the game up with a two-score lead instead of just a one-score.

I just don’t see W&L consistently moving the ball on Hobart’s defense. Is W&L better offensively than they were in 2010 when they were telling everyone they had a QB MADE for this system? This hurts me to say, but Hobart is better defensively than that Thomas More team’s defense was. TMC jumped on W&L early due to the Generals not being able to stop the run.

NOTE: I had already picks Salisbury before the injury news from Rowan came out.

But Defiance played each team at very different points in the season. Adrian has gotten lots better as the season progressed, even going so far as to have a different starting quarterback. It’s tough to play the score comparison in this case.

Guys: Clearly the NCAA had it totally wrong by slotting Franklin as a road team in the first round. Part of being a fan means you’ll always complain that your team never gets enough “love” from the media covering the sport. I realize the HCAC is generally not a highly respected football conference….I get that and its probably deserved…..having said that though Franklin is really solid and it shows. In the past the explosive offense has always been their trademark, but in the past few years the defense has really come together as a consistent unit. You have to appreciate what Mike Leonard does with his non conference schedule….last two years UW Whitewater and home openers with Mt. Union this year and next….his attitude is to be the best you have to play the best…..GRIZ fans love that and more than anything appreciate him for the man of character he is. No doubt we’re heavy underdogs at Mary Hardin Baylor….we should be, but we will show up and we will represent GRIZ Nation with a strong effort!! You guys really do an incredible job with this site….but maybe Franklin is not such a mystery anymore?